Sex Determination: Ciliates' Self-Censorship Gareth Bloomfield  Current Biology  Volume 24, Issue 13, Pages R617-R619 (July 2014) DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.05.041 Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd Terms and Conditions

Figure 1 Simplified depiction of ciliate conjugation and cytoplasmic inheritance. After meiosis (not shown), conjugating cells each possess two identical haploid micronuclei. One from each cell is then passed into its partner, and then the micronuclei in each cell fuse, making both progeny cells' diploid micronuclei identical to each other. The macronuclei then degrade, and are replaced by new versions with sequences deriving from the new micronucleus. For some traits (here shown as blue and red), inheritance follows the genotype of the previous macronucleus, irrespective of the new micronuclear genotype. Current Biology 2014 24, R617-R619DOI: (10.1016/j.cub.2014.05.041) Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd Terms and Conditions

Figure 2 Schematic of targeted removal of macronuclear DNA sequences in Paramecium. In parental macronuclei, non-coding RNA (white wavy line) is transcribed from existing chromosomes. Numerous short scnRNAs (purple lines) are meanwhile produced and transported from the micronucleus to the old macronucleus, where some can hybridise with the non-coding RNA. scnRNAs that do not hybridise subsequently target sequences in the new macronucleus for deletion. Current Biology 2014 24, R617-R619DOI: (10.1016/j.cub.2014.05.041) Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd Terms and Conditions